A cost and time analysis of earthbags and clay bricks as building wall systems un Uganda

Abstract

The high cost of building materials, such as clay bricks, among others, has made building construction products expensive in Uganda. Since wall construction is one of the major components of the entire building process, this paper sought to compare the construction cost and time of clay bricks to earthbags in building walling systems in order to find out if there is a possibility of adopting the earthbag wall system as a means of making wall construction of building affordable houses in Uganda. A cost and time analysis of the construction of an earthbag and clay brick wall was done and experimental observations of the processes were made to identify the extent to which each system falls in line. Samples of an earthbag and clay brick walls of equal size 2.4x1m high were constructed on a flat surface/platform and the construction cost and time data was collected and recorded. To determine whether there were any significant differences between these two walls, tables showing values of the cost and speed of construction of each of these walls were prepared and results obtained. Results showed that there were significant differences between construction cost and speed of construction using the two systems of construction. The total construction cost of the clay brick wall, (inclusive of the materials, tools, and labour, associated with the construction of the brick wall) was Ushs. 361,150 while the total construction cost of the earthbag wall, (inclusive of the materials, tools, and labour, associated with the construction of the brick wall) was Ushs 502,310. Construction of the clay brick wall took 110minutes or 1:50 hours and plastering of this wall took 38 minutes, while Construction of the earthbag wall took 293 minutes or 4:53 hours and plastering of this wall took 166minutes or 2: 46 hours Results showed that the use of earthbags does not make the wall construction process cheaper nor faster than the use of clay bricks.